SFM Cloth Dolls with Attitude! NZ

Sunday, August 16, 2015

I was given a brief - to design and make St Dominic's family to celebrate 800 years if the Dominican Order of Preachers & Teachers.

The only picture of the family I was given was a Mosaic! Various other pictures of St Dominic are also other artists versions of how he looked, but there has been a reconstruction of his face - reference here. https://thepracticingcatholic.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/portrait-of-st-dominic/

So I began to make some heads and was delighted to accidentally design a new head shape!

I used the same head shape for all the figures

This is Dominic's mother Joanna of Aza.

Her husband Felix DeGuzman was a knight and they were an influential Spanish family in the 13th Century. "According to tradition, Jane had a dream before her
son’s conception in which she saw a hound racing through the world igniting
everything with a flaming torch. Troubled by this dream, she went to pray at
the Benedictine abbey of San Domingo de Silos, located in a pleasant valley
about twenty miles north of Caleruega. This dream was indeed prophetic. Dominic
did ignite the world with sacred truth through preaching and teaching born from
a life of dedicated prayer, love for the Word of God, and a burning desire to
gain souls for Christ. It is widely believed that Dominic’s keen sensitivity to
the sufferings of others, which he displayed from childhood on, was acquired
from his mother, who, although from a noble family, was known for her
compassion toward the poor and needy. From her Dominic also acquired the habit
of prayer."

Dominics two older brothers were also Priests. Antonio was a Canon and Manes later became a Fominican Friar.

I have tried to portray them as close to an ordinary family as possible.

As usual, the robes took longer to make than the figures, which are stump dolls.

I have kept the bodies to a very simple style, as the focus is mostly on their individuality as a group of people.

Felix has raw wool needlefelted hair and drawn features. he has a beaten Earring collar!